Chapter Twenty
Ah'Taria

Kayla gazed dazedly around the room as she sat on a dais table next to Lucas.  It had been two months since she had left Jigu to come to Ah'Taria and she was at another banquet.  Being Lucas's paramour had its perks but the hateful and envious stares from the women left her feeling uneasy. Gossip about her and Lucas's relationship ran rampant around the palace and surrounding planets.

Lucas turned to Kayla with a glass of champagne. She accepted it and pretended to sip as she scanned the crowded ballroom.  Kayla didn't like alcoholic beverages but to keep up appearances she always made an act of accepting and pretending to drink it.

"Are you enjoying the entertainment?" Lucas asked.

Kayla turned to stare at the intertwined bodies in the center of the room and tried to hide the disgust she felt.  "I find it very entertaining," she replied softly before pretending to sip again.

"Shall we join them," asked Lucas playfully.

Kayla closed her eyes as she thought back to the first banquet that she'd attended with Lucas.

The doors slid open and Lucas’ name was announced loudly.  The people stopped to turn and stare at him.  He'd been gone for a year at The Academy and upon his return he now had a paramour.  His actions were the talk of the century which also made her the subject of conversation in every household.

They walked down the sky blue stairs. When they reached the landing, several people tried to catch his attention but he focused on where he was going.  Lucas led Kayla  to the middle of the room and in front of everyone tilted her head up and thoroughly kissed her.  There were murmurs and whispers from everyone as he then pulled her along with him to a table that sat on a dais.

Kayla was mortified that he'd done this in front of everyone and held her head down.

Lucas leaned toward her, "Lift your head."

She'd turned to gaze at him and all she saw was lust in his eyes.  She'd hoped the hushed rumors of these functions were false but as she stared at him she knew they were true.  Nervously she licked her lips and gazed straight ahead of her.

Lucas placed his hand on Kayla's left thigh and squeezed as a half-naked serving girl poured mulled wine.  Kayla flinched away as the serving girl's small breast rubbed against her shoulder when she leaned over her to pour the wine.  Lucas chuckled as he drank from his glass.

"I don't like wine," said Kayla as she stared at the glass.

Lucas kissed her cheek gently then lifted the glass to her lips and whispered, "It's rude to not drink it."  Smiling he tilted the glass and a small amount poured sweetly onto her lips.  With a forced smile Kayla took the glass from his hand and pretended to sip at it.  The small drops she'd tasted were too sweet and the smell of the herbs were nauseating.

Soon the music in the room changed and she noticed people were starting to make their way to the center of the room.  She assumed they were about to dance until she noticed that people were taking each other’s clothing off.   A deep frown appeared while Kayla watched in wide eyed curiosity when  the twenty or so people started to touch and kiss each other.

Kayla shifted slightly in her seat and watched in awe as one woman knelt in front of a man. The woman  took him deep into her mouth, tickling his balls with her tongue and Kayla tilted her to the side to get a better view. Still pretending to sip on her wine, she watched the depraved sex acts going on in front of her amazed at some of the things she was seeing.  One woman was held upside down with her legs wrapped around a man's neck as they both pleased each other orally.

Kayla could feel warmth pooling between her thighs. As she looked on in interest she felt Lucas hand gliding up and down her inner thighs.  He was stroking the flames of her arousal making her want more. She shifted in her seat spreading her legs a little wider.

From beneath her eyelashes she watched breathlessly as Lucas brought the cup of mulled wine to his delectable lips.  Her heart skipped a beat as she imagined those lips all over her body.  Squirming in her chair she could feel  herself get more and more aroused.  Gently setting her cup down she unconsciously leaned towards him with her lips parted.

Lucas took her lips in an addicting kiss. She leaned further wanting more and swept her tongue along his bottom lip.   A moan escaped her and she placed her hand on his thigh stroking the bulging erection his pants couldn't conceal.  Without a thought she moved to unbutton his pants but  got  stopped short by his hand as he chuckled.

"You seem enthusiastic," he smiled down at her his blue eyes twinkling.  Leaning closer to her he nipped at her ear before whispering softly, "Tell me what you want, Kayla."

She ran her hand gently along his cheek, "I want you."  In the back of her mind she felt something wasn't right but ignored it as she felt his hand brushing over her nipples through the tight top.  As the zipper slid down the front exposing the upper half of her body she held her breath in anticipation.

Kayla’s eyes fluttered shut when she felt his mouth close over her nipple, sweeping his tongue back and forth . His hands moved up and down her sides pulling her closer to his greedy mouth.  Each pull could be felt as it tingled all over her body.

"Lucas," she moaned grabbing his hair and pulling him tighter against her.  She was beyond caring as his tongue tormented her.  When he pulled back and blew on her nipple her body shook.

Lucas stared into Kayla's brown eyes.  They were wild with a wanton desire.  In a flash her shirt was out the way and  he stood her up in front of him.  Her skirt rode up her thighs as she straddled his lap and pushed herself down onto his erection.  Grinding herself onto him, he could feel her wetness through her panties.

The air was heavy with the smell of sex and arousal as the moans from those in the center of the room became louder and louder.  Kayla had lost herself in the sounds of the music, moans, sighs and whimpers as she moved against  his erection.  Her frustration grew as he seemed reluctant to give her what she so craved.

Lucas raised his hip into her moistness while licking the shell of her ear.  He whispered sexily, "Do you want me?"

Beside herself in a cloud of desire she yelled in frustration, "Yes, I want you!"

The music stopped abruptly at her cry. Those watching the show turned to stare at them; even some of the participants fondling each other stopped to look in curiosity.  Kayla sat on Lucas's lap confused; she stared into his midnight blue eyes while a delicate blush rose up her chest.

"Lucas?" she asked softly. Desire ran through her and she wondered when and how she had come to be shirtless on his lap. Her breasts crushed into Lucas's solid chest when she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed softly.  Lucas stared coldly at the audience Kayla's outburst had attracted before smirking at them.  

Kayla stood with her body still pressed into his as he stepped them back to the rooms he shared with her in the palace.   He placed her down gently in the bed; she clung to him as he devoured her lips..  With a  snap of  his fingers they laid entangled with their clothes neatly folded.

Lucas caressed her body without breaking the hold he had on her lips.  When his fingers slid over her mound, she whimpered.  As he parted her folds he gently played with her bud and her moans became louder.  Her juices flowed as he slipped his finger into her, bending his finger it until he came into contact with the pulse of her need.   With a flick of his wrist her body arched in pleasure.  He absorbed her moans into his mouth as he made  her came on his fingers.

Lucas spreaded her legs wide so he could enter her still throbbing center, eliciting a shriek and shudder.  She thrashed beneath him pushing and pulling at his shoulders as he rammed himself into her sending her closer to another climax.

Kayla felt like she would break apart under his powerful thrusts and tried to shift herself backwards as he continued mercilessly.  Her walls gripped him tightly as he forced her even higher past her last release.  She couldn't take it  and climaxed around his throbbing flesh, gripping him so tightly she wondered how he could move.

"Would you care for something?"

Kayla’s eyes snapped open, She looked around in an attempt to regain her bearings as she stared at the half naked serving girl who was holding a large tray of meats and cheese.

Smiling politely she glanced from her still full plate to the overflowing tray, "No thank you."

Turning the serving girl sent Lucas a provocative smile, "Would you care for anything?"

Before Lucas could politely refuse Kayla snapped. "You can leave."  She sighed in frustration and  glanced around the room looking at the lustful gazes directed toward Lucas from the serving girls andfemale guests.

Rolling her eyes she tilted toward him, "Does anyone pique your interest?" she asked knowing he wasn't interested in any of the other women who sent him lustful glances.

Lucas smiled.  "Are you jealous? You are the only person in this room that piques my interest."  He kissed her exposed shoulder before running his tongue along the sensitive skin.

Tilting her neck to give him better access, she was relieved the dreams she had of him biting her were just that: dreams.  She felt his teeth scrape against her skin and tried to quell the shudder that ran up and down her spine at the thought of those teeth breaking her skin.  His lips kissed the skin he'd just nibbled before he tilted upright into his seat.

The room was full of dignitaries, ambassadors and high ranking merchants watching the lewd display as they whispered and pointed to some of the more adventurous displays.  Kayla shifted in her seat flushing with arousal; she watched breathlessly as people around her and Lucas started to act out their own scenes.

She could feel Lucas fingers running up her thigh through the slit in her skirt and frowned at him. He had promised they wouldn't have sex at any of these events. In return she agreed that fondling and kissing was fine.

"Let's mingle a little before we leave," whispered Lucas.  

His warm breath against her ear caused her heart to race and she smoothed away  her small frown then smiled at him nodding.

Lucas stood up and extended his arm to her. They walked together around the large, overly bright room. As she expected, she was met with friendly and open curiosity from the men and hostile scrutiny from the women.

"Ah, Prince Lucas!" said one woman as they walked toward Cyress Johnson and his wife, Abigail.  As she pressed overly wet kisses on both his cheeks she flushed with pleasure, "I was just saying to Cyress that I hoped you leave the dais and walk around."  She continued fluttering her eyelashes and speaking enthusiastically.

Kayla stayed quiet as the lady intentionally overlooked her. She had turned her back slightly to Kayla as she spoke in seductive and flattering tones to Lucas and her husband.  Kayla waved away the blatant display of cattiness from the lady and smiled up at Lucas indicating she was ready to move on.

"It was nice speaking to you," Lucas said devoid of emotion as he cut into the ladies shrill talking. With that he and Kayla walked to a group of dignitaries from Rax and Chikyu.

Kayla watched amused as they glanced at her lush form wrapped in a dark green silk dress.  It hugged her body like a second skin and had a slit that went to her waist so when she moved tantalizing glimpses of her soft caramel skin showed.  Squeezing the hand that rested on her arm in a display of affection she tried to listen to them talk about the recent armistice with Nah'Bye.

Kayla smiled affectionately toward Lucas as she listened intently to the men talk about the treaty that had allowed her people to trade with the other planets in the Alliance.  It gave her people everything they needed and then some.  She looked around covertly wondering where her brother could be in this sea of well-dressed people.

After several minutes of listening to the men brag about their input in the armistice, Lucas guided Kayla to another group.  This group was mostly women and they all sent looks of thinly veiled contempt toward Kayla.  She was the one and only paramour to the fickle Lucas Sinclair and they had either wanted the position or had a daughter or niece they wanted to have that position.

With a ghost of a smile Kayla ignored them as her eyes landed on her brother's broad back.  He turned around as if he could feel her gaze on him and winked before turning back to the people he was talking to.  Kayla sighed and wondered how it was the women of the Alliance had a way of shunning her without being obvious to Lucas or any other man.

She leaned her head against Lucas's arm, unconsciously he tilted so her head laid in the crook of his neck whole his head rested on hers. The other women stared enviously at the display of affection, but Kayla was too busy looking around to notice.

Several hours passed with them moving from group to group as Lucas spoke to everyone before they finally came to the group her brother stood in. Kayla couldn’t keep the large smile off her face. She skipped to him in her three inch gold heels and hugged him tight. Every man in the group watched her breasts bounce and her ass sway and stifled a small groan.

"Kae!  Where have you been," asked Kayla interested, stepping back to look him in his hazel green eyes

"I was on Nah'Bye for the armistice talks and signing," he replied before giving her an affectionate pat on the head.

Lucas watched for a bit before he stepped closer to Kayla then placed a hand on her rounded hip and pulled her closer to him.  Kayla noticed Kaelen smirk as he watched Lucas's unnecessary display of possessiveness but took a small step back.

"Kae, when are you going to join us for a meal at the palace?" inquired Kayla.

Kayla glanced at Lucas expecting him to invite her brother, also.  When she saw that he didn't intend to extend an invitation to her brother she start to pout.  Racking his hands through his hair, his sigh sound like he was in pain.  The others in the group shifted uncomfortably, her request was unheard of.  None of the dignitaries, ambassadors or merchants had ever eaten at the palace or been invited to the palace.

"Kae, why don't you stop by the palace with Jacob the next time he comes?" said Lucas clearly and loudly.

The silence in the ballroom that followed was deafening as both Kayla and Kaelen wondered what could have caused such a hush.  Quickly everyone started whispering and staring toward her. She caught tidbits of conversation from those closest to her. She heard words like 'her good graces', 'Lucas changing', and 'unheard of' but she didn't understand what the fuss was about.  She stared at Lucas as his jaw clenched and unclenched in muted anger.

Kayla placed her hand on top of his and smiled weakly full of uncertainty, as she realized she was the cause of the hushed whispers and stares.  As Lucas stared into her watery eyes, his aggression ebbed away.  With a sigh, he turned and nodded to the men before they both took their leave.